A South Carolina man will have to talk to the federal government to recover money he claimed he kept under the console of his vehicle for safe keeping.

It didn’t turn out to be that safe, because when the Commerce Police Department pulled Steven Louis Gilliam, 35, of 2217 Aleaf Terrace, Spartanburg, over in a northbound lane of Interstate 85 Thursday morning for a window tint violation, they found $10,480 wrapped in units of $1,000.

“He claimed it was payment for concrete work he does, and gets paid cash for,” said Chad Knight, head of the city’s Criminal Investigation Unit.

Gilliam declined the officers’ request to search the vehicle, but the department’s drug dog “alerted” on the vehicle, providing the probable cause necessary for the search. Knight said officers found a small amount of marijuana as well.

The suspect has a prior conviction for trafficking marijuana in South Carolina, Knight said.

“He came up here wanting his money back, saying we stole it from him,” Knight reported. “We told him the money had been deposited, that all the information had been sent to the FBI, who handles our currency investigations. Somebody from the U.S. Attorney’s Office will determine if it was linked to illegal drugs.”

He was stopped for a window tint violation. He had a small amount of marijuana in his car. He had a previous conviction of trafficking marijuana. He had a total of $10,480 dollars in the car. The last time I heard it was not illegal to have money in your car. I think the federal government has stolen his money. We do not live in a police state. If they have proof of him selling drugs they should arrest him. Other wise they should give him back his money.

Joe Christmas must be a common criminal. What idiot thinks the way Joe does? Get real. The guy is a dope dealer and the Commerce PD is doing a great job on the interstate. If he was stupid enough to have dark tints and the officers had the right to stop him for the violation, then he is just as stupid as Joe. But what do I know, I'm just a stupid cop.

The window tint violation was just the excuse to pull this guy over. I think Joe is right about the money part. When is it illegal to have money in your car? The marijuana is obviously a little more serious issue than the window tint, but it is still very obvious the cops were just going fishing with this case. People are not as dumb as the cops would like to think and try to intimidate us into believing. Most of us can see through this crap.

To Mr. Cop at message #3. You might be surprised to know that I support the police department. I also have enough respect to call them police not cops which I think is a derogatory term. If you think you are a stupid cop I feel sorry for your lack of self-esteem which if you really are a policeman you know is the primary cause of drug abuse. I would explain the fourth amendment of the U.S. Constitution which prohibits unreasonable search and seizures, but I'm afraid I would be wasting my time.

Joe and the Other criminal #3.1 are incorrect. You may carry unlimited amount of money on your person or in vehicle as long as you can show where it comes from. Otherwise it can be confiscated until an investigation is completed. Say what you may but $10K divided into $1k units and hidden under the dash is suspicious enough for me. Much less the trafficking convition and the ILLEGAL narcotics in the vehicle. Good job CPD! Get em all.

Hmmm let me see . Dark window tint. Money under the dash. Wrapped nicely in packages of $1000.00. Hmmmm I do believe that has to do with drugs. I look at it this way. You buy, You sell,You get caught. "GOOD" Scumbags like you need to be put under the jail and the key and throw away. Better yet, have you dig a hole 6' x6'x6' with a spoon and then fill it back up. The POLICE dept is not dumb. No permission to search the car and the dog is alerted to weed. Once a crook always a crook. Good work Commerce Police Dept. The "POLICE" are doing their job. Now if they would concentrate on some of the speeders that go through downtown Commerce at high speeds. Friday had two cars pass me in a 35 mph area that were going at least 60. Bad thing no Police were around. They had no regard for the safety of fellow drivers. Weaving in and out of traffic.

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